Valentine’s Day Spending Down From Last Year

For some, Valentine's Day is a huge production with candy, flowers, spa treatments, and even romantic getaways. For others, the celebration of the day to honor romance is a lot more subtle and subdued. Subdued might be the way more people are choosing to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.

A survey by the National Retail Federation finds that spending for the holiday is down considerably this year compared to last year. The NRF says consumers spent about $19.7 billion on the holiday last year. This year's romantic returns are expected to only total $18.2 billion.

There is a certain group of people that think there is a trend more towards not buying into having to do everything on Valentine’s Day.

Those were the comments of LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice. Rice's comments were reported by the Louisiana Radio Network. He also suggested in his remarks that the number of people actually celebrating Valentine's Day is down nearly 10% from last year as well.

Still, those that do celebrate will be looking for ways to make their dollars go further. Retailers don't intend to let those potential customers walk out of their stores empty handed.

There are still plenty of people that are out there looking for last minute gifts, chocolates are always a standby. And they’re going to try to make those offers attractive, so the people that are still looking for gifts, they have something to offer for them.

If you were wondering, the average hopeless romantic will spend about $85 on his or her Valentine. There also is a trend for lovers to move away from the more traditional Valentine's gifts of flowers and candy. Many consumers are going the experimental route when it comes to adding a little romantic spice to their relationship.

Going on a special trip or a special night out that isn’t purchased in advance and sometimes may just say we’re going to do it in a couple days and be looking forward to it to avoid the rush.

Our suggestion is to make sure you give the most valuable gift you have, your time. It will be appreciated greatly by the one that you love the most.